In the late 1850s a group of businessmen
held a meeting to discuss their concerns about the care of the poor
suffering from tuberculosis (TB).

It was decided that a hospital should be
established for such patients and, in 1860, the North London Hospital
for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest opened in a large mansion house in
Hampstead High Street.

The house had been built around 1730
and was owned by Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867), a theatrical scene painter, successful marine landscape painter and a
member of the Royal Academy. He was a great friend of Charles
Dickens and painted the theatrical sets for his performances.

The first four patients were admitted on 5th
May 1860 (5th May became the Founder's Day for the Hospital).
Stanfield may still have been resident when the patients arrived
and may have had TB himself. In the event, he was advised to go
to the countryside and in 1865 he moved to Northaw in Hertfordshire.

The Hospital treated the poor who could
not afford to pay for treatment, although it did have two rooms for
paying patients. Patients came from all parts of the United
Kingdom - Leeds, Manchester, Shropshire, Devon - on the recommendation
of a local referee. The dry, bracing air of Hampstead was
considered to be more beneficial to recovery from less advanced disease
compared to the warmer softer air usually recommended, and even
alleviated the later stages of consumption.

An Out-Patients Department with offices for the Hospital opened at 216 Tottenham Court Road in 1861.

Stanfield House was sold in 1864 and the
Hospital then leased it. The lease expired in 1874 but was
extended on a yearly tenancy.

In 1877 the Hospital Committee bought 3
acres of land in Hampstead with the intention of building a
110-bedded hospital there, an ambitious project considering its poor
income and the £4000 mortgage on the land purchase.

Work began on the new hospital in 1880.
The first phase was completed in 1881 and the patients were
transferred from Stanfield House to the new building in Mount Vernon.

Present status (March 2009)

Only one-third of the original
building remains. The other two-thirds were demolished to make
way for Prince Arthur Road. The surviving remnant was renamed
Stanfield House and became a school. From 1887 until 1966 it was
the Hampstead Public Library. It then became a Christian Science
church but is now a private dwelling.

The
surviving northern section of the original building is on the corner of
Prince Arthur Road and Hampstead High Street. It became a Grade
II* listed building in 1950.

No. 86 now contains consulting rooms for a psychiatric clinic for children and adolescents run by the London North Thames Private Hospitals.

The front door of Stanfield House has a commemorative plaque to Clarkson Stanfield above it.

The site of the first Out-Patients Department of the Hospital at 216 Tottenham Court Road from 1861 until 1891.